How to use regex to identify a "/".

Question

Hi
I am trying to use the regular expressions package to distinguish between an XML start tag and an XML end tag (i.e. <tag> and </tag>). I am trying to do this by using the pretty much the following:
Pattern myPattern = Pattern.compile("/");
Matcher myMatcher = myPattern.matcher(myFile);
I know my java syntax is correct because it finds other regexes perfectly but for some reason it cant find a single slash.
if i replace occurences of the single slash in the myFile with double slashes the pattern matcher picks them up using the above pattern.
Why is this?
PS I know there are loads of APIs out there for playing with xml and i could use them but i was just messing around trying to do it myself. My question is about why the regex doesnt work
Many thanks

Answer 1

I guess this depends on the conent you're using in your file, and how you're using the matcher afterwards. For example, I just did this quick test?
import java.util.regex.*;
public class Test {
  public static void main(String [] args) {
    Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("/");
    String sample = "/";
    Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(sample);
    System.out.println(matcher.matches());
}And the output was true. However, if I change sample to have more than just a / in it, it doesn't work anymore. I would have to change the pattern to ".\*/.\*".
- Adam
Edited by: guitar_man_F on Sep 14, 2007 11:13 AM